YouTube Encyclopedic

The Dawn of Religion : Documentary on the First Beliefs of Ancient Peoples (Full Documentary)

Religion Making a Comeback in Post-Soviet Russia? Religion in Russia and Central Asia

Transcription

In all times and places in our history,
human beings have wondered,
"Where did we come from?
What's our place in the world?
What happens to us after we die?"
Religions are systems of belief
that have developed and evolved over time
in response to these
and other eternal mysteries,
driven by the feeling that some questions
can only be answered by faith
and based on an intuition
that there is something greater than ourselves,
a higher power we must answer to,
or some source we all spring from
and to which we must return.
Hinduism means the religions of India.
It's not a single religion
but rather a variety of related beliefs
and spiritual practices.
It dates back five millennia
to the time of Krishna,
a man of such virtue
that he became known as an avatar of Vishnu,
an incarnation of the god in human form.
He taught that all life follows karma,
the law of cause and effect,
and our job is to do our duty, or dharma,
according to our place in society
without worrying how things turn out.
When we die, we are reincarnated into a new body.
If we followed our dharma
and did our proper duty in our past life,
we get good karma,
which sends our soul upward in the social scale.
Our rebirth into the next life
is thus determined by what we do in this one.
The wheel of rebirths is called samsara.
It's possible for a very holy person
to lead a life with enough good karma
to escape the wheel.
This escape is called moksha.
Hinduism teaches that everything is one.
The whole universe is
one transcendent reality called Brahman,
and there's just one Brahman
but many gods within it,
and their roles, aspects, and forms differ
according to various traditions.
Brahma is the creator,
Vishnu is the preserver
who sometimes takes on human form,
and Shiva is the transformer,
or Lord of the Dance.
Durga is the fiercely protective divine mother.
Ganesha has an elephant head
and is the wise patron of success.
Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world.
And although most Hindus live in India,
they can be found on every continent,
one billion strong.
Now, let's travel west,
across deserts and mountains
to the fertile crescent about 4,000 years ago.
Judaism began with God calling
Abraham and Sarah to leave Mesopotamia
and migrate to the land of Canaan.
In return for their faith in the one true God,
a revolutionary concept
in the polytheistic world of that time,
they would have land and many descendants.
From this promise came the land of Israel
and the chosen people,
but staying in that land
and keeping those people together
was going to be very difficult.
The Israelites were enslaved in Egypt,
but God freed them with the help
of the prophet Moses,
who received the Ten Commandments
and later hundreds more.
They conquered the Promised Land,
but could only keep it for a few hundred years.
Israel sits at a crossroads
through which many armies
marched over the centuries.
And in the year 70,
the Romans destroyed the temple
in their capital, Jerusalem.
So, the religion transformed itself
from a temple religion
with sacrifices and priests
to a religion of the book.
Because of this, Judaism is a faith
of symbolism, reverence, and deep meanings
tied to the literature of its history.
The many sacred scriptures make up
the Hebrew bible, or Tanakh,
and hundreds of written discussions and interpretations
are contained in an expansive compendium
of deeper meanings,
called the Talmud.
Jews find rich, symbolic meaning in daily life.
At the Passover meal,
every item on the menu symbolizes
an aspect of the escape from slavery.
The importance of growing up
is emphasized when young people
reach the age of bar and bat mitzvah,
ceremonies during which they assume responsibility
for their actions
and celebrate the weaving
of their own lives
into the faith, history, and texts
of the Jewish people.
There are 14 million Jews in the world today,
6 million in Israel,
which became independent
following the horrors of genocide in World War II,
and 5 million in the United States.
But now let's go back 2500 years and return to India
where Buddhism began
with a young prince named Siddhartha.
On the night he was conceived,
his mother, Queen Maya,
is said to have been visited in her sleep
by a white elephant who entered her side.
Ten months later, Prince Siddartha was born
into a life of luxury.
Venturing forth from his sheltered existence
as a young man,
he witnessed the human suffering
that had been hidden from him
and immediately set out to investigate its sources.
Why must people endure suffering?
Must we reincarnate through hundreds of lives?
At first he thought the problem
was attachment to material things,
so he gave up his possessions.
He became a wandering beggar,
which he discovered certainly made him no happier.
Then he overheard a music teacher telling a student,
"Don't tighten the string too much, it will break.
But don't let it go too slack,
or it will not sound."
In a flash, he realized
that looking for answers at the extremes
was a mistake.
The middle way between luxury and poverty
seemed wisest.
And while meditating under a bodhi tree,
the rest of the answer came to him.
All of life abounds with suffering.
It's caused by selfish craving
for one's own fulfillment at the expense of others.
Following an eight-step plan
can teach us to reduce that craving,
and thus reduce the suffering.
On that day, Siddhartha became the Buddha,
the enlightened one.
Not the only one, but the first one.
The Buddhist plan is called
the Eightfold Path,
and though it is not easy to follow,
it has pointed the way
for millions to enlightenment,
which is what Buddhahood means,
a state of compassion,
insight,
peace,
and steadfastness.
From the time he got up from under that tree
to the moment of his death as an old man,
the Buddha taught people how to become enlightened:
right speech,
right goals,
a mind focused on what is real,
and a heart focused on loving others.
Many Buddhists believe in God or gods,
but actions are more important than beliefs.
There are nearly a billion Buddhists
in the world today,
mostly in East, Southeast, and South Asia.
2,000 years ago in Judaism's Promised Land,
Christianity was born.
Just as Hindus called Krishna "God in Human Form,"
Christians say the same thing about Jesus,
and Christianity grew out of Judaism
just as Buddhism grew out of Hinduism.
The angel Gabriel was sent by the God of Abraham
to ask a young woman named Mary
to become the mother of his son.
The son was Jesus,
raised as a carpenter
by Mary and her husband Joseph,
until he turned 30,
when he began his public career
as the living word of God.
Less interested in religiousness
than in justice and mercy,
Jesus healed the sick in order to draw crowds
and then taught them about his heavenly father --
affectionate, forgiving, and attentive.
Then, he would invite everyone to a common table
to illustrate his Kingdom of God,
outcasts, sinners, and saints all eating together.
He had only three years
before his unconventional wisdom
got him into trouble.
His enemies had him arrested,
and he was executed by Rome
in the standard means
by which rabble-rousers were put to death,
crucifixion.
But shortly after he was buried,
women found his tomb empty
and quickly spread word,
convinced that he had been raised from the dead.
The first Christians described
his resurrected appearances,
inspiring confidence that his message was true.
The message: love one another as I have loved you.
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus
in December at Christmas,
and his suffering, death, and resurrection
during Holy Week in the spring.
In the ceremony of baptism,
a washing away of sin
and welcoming into the Christian community,
recall Jesus's own baptism
when he left his life as a carpenter.
In the rite of Communion,
Christians eat the bread and drink the wine
blessed as the body and blood of Jesus,
recalling Jesus's last supper.
There are two billion Christians worldwide,
representing almost a third of the world's people.
Islam began 1400 years ago
with a man of great virtue,
meditating in a mountain cave
in the Arabian desert.
The man was Muhammad.
He was visited by a divine messenger,
again the angel Gabriel,
in Arabic, Jibril,
delivering to him the words of Allah,
the one God of Abraham.
In the next few years,
more and more messages came,
and he memorized and taught them.
The verses he recited were full of wise sayings,
beautiful rhymes,
and mysterious metaphors.
But Muhammad was a merchant, not a poet.
Many agreed the verses
were indeed the words of God,
and these believers became the first Muslims.
The word Muslim means one who surrenders,
meaning a person who submits to the will of God.
A Muslim's five most important duties
are called the Five Pillars:
Shahada, Muslims declare publicly,
there is no other God but Allah,
and Muhammad is his final prophet;
Salat, they pray five times a day facing Mecca;
Zakat, every Muslim is required
to give 2 or 3% of their net worth to the poor;
Sawm, they fast during daylight hours
for the lunar month of Ramadan
to strengthen their willpower
and their reliance on God;
and Hajj, once in a lifetime,
every Muslim who is able must make a pilgrimage
to the holy city of Mecca,
rehearsing for the time
when they will stand before God
to be judged worthy or unworthy
of eternal life with Him.
The words of God,
revealed to the prophet over 23 years,
are collected in the Quran,
which literally translates into "the recitation."
Muslims believe it to be the only holy book
free of human corruption.
It's also considered by many
to be the finest work of literature
in the Arabic language.
Islam is the world's second largest religion,
practiced by over one and a half billion Muslims around the globe.
Religion has been an aspect of culture
for as long as it has existed,
and there are countless variations of its practice.
But common to all religions
is an appeal for meaning
beyond the empty vanities
and lowly realities of existence,
beyond sin,
suffering,
and death,
beyond fear,
and beyond ourselves.

Dharmic religions

Dharmic religions are the predominant and oldest religions of Asia. Most of Asia's population follows Indian religions. All Indian religions originated in South Asia. These religions all have the concepts of dharma, karma, and reincarnation.

Hinduism predates recorded history and is thought to have had a beginning during the Indus Valley Civilization itself. It has no single founder; rather, it is a diverse melange of traditions, practices, and lineages. Jainism, and Sikhism emerged in ancient India from Hinduism.

Sikhism

Sikhism is the fifth largest organized religion in the world,[13] with approximately 30 million adherents.[14] And one of the most steadily growing.[15] It is a monotheistic religion founded by Guru Nanak Dev in the 1500s. The religion professes its roots in the area of Punjab, whose territories form part of India and Pakistan.

This system of religious philosophy and expression has been traditionally known as the Gurmat (literally the counsel of the gurus) or the Sikh Dharm. Sikhism originated from the word Sikh, which in turn comes from the Sanskrit root śhiṣhya meaning "disciple" or "learner", or śhikṣha meaning "instruction".

Confucianism

Confucianism was founded in ancient China by Confucius (551 B.C.E. - 479). Confucianism is a complex of moral, social, political, philosophical, and religious concerns that permeated the culture and history of East Asia. Confucianism emphasizes family, social hierarchy, and personal integrity and is manifested in practices and attitudes rather than institutions and is centered on the family and local society. It was, however, considered the state religion of East Asian countries in some periods. Today the Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese diasporas have brought Confucianism to all parts of the world.

Taoism

Taoism (also romanized Daoism) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (also romanized "Dao"), a term that means "way", "path" or "principle". The concept is shared with other Chinese philosophies and religions. In Taoism, however, Tao denotes both the source and the driving force inherent in everything that exists. It is ultimately ineffable: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao."[16]

Laozi is traditionally regarded as the founder of Taoism and is closely associated with "original", or "primordial", Taoism.[17] Whether he actually existed is commonly disputed;[18][19] however, the work attributed to him – the Daodejing – is dated to the late 4th century BC.[20]

Taoist propriety and ethics vary according to the particular school, but in general tends to emphasize wu-wei (action through non-action), "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: compassion, moderation, and humility.

Chinese folk religion

Chinese folk religion is a label used to describe the ethnic religious traditions which have been a main belief system in China and among the Han Chinese ethnic group for most of the civilization's history. This group of diverse beliefs comprises Chinese mythology and includes the worship of various shen (神, shén; "deities", "spirits", "awarenesses", "consciousnesses", "archetypes") which can be nature deities, Taizu or clan deities, city deities, national deities, cultural heroes and demigods, dragons and ancestors. Chinese folk religion is sometimes categorized with Taoism, since over the world institutional Taoism has been attempting to assimilate or administer local religions. More accurately, Taoism can be defined as a component of Chinese religion, since it sprang out of folk religion and Chinese philosophy. Chinese folk religion is sometimes seen as a constituent part of Chinese traditional religion, but more often, the two are regarded as synonymous. With around 454 million adherents, or about 6.6% of the world population, Chinese folk religion is one of the major religious traditions in the world. In China more than 30% of the population adheres to folk religions or Taoism.[21]

Shinto

Kami-no-michi is almost unique to Japan and the Japanese diaspora. It is a set of practices carried out to establish a connection between present-day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written records of the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki in the 7th and 8th century. Still, these earliest Japanese writings do not refer to a unified "Shinto religion", but rather to disorganized folklore, history, and mythology. Shinto today applies to public shrines suited to various purposes such as war memorials, harvest festivals, romance, and historical monuments, as well as various sectarian organizations.

Shinto is the largest religion in Japan, practiced by nearly 80% of the population, yet only a small percentage of these identify themselves as "Shintoists" in surveys.[22] According to surveys carried out in 2006 and 2008 show that 3% to 3.9% of the population of Japan are members of Shinto sects and derived religions.[23]

Mugyo

Muism ("religion of the Mu")[24][25] or sometimes Sinism (Shingyo, "religion of the gods", with shin being the Korean character derivative of the Hanja),[26] encompasses a variety of indigenous religious beliefs and practices of the Korean people, the Korean sphere and the Korean diaspora.[27] In contemporary South Korea, the most used term is Muism and a shaman is known as a mudang (무당, 巫堂). The role of the mudang, usually a woman, is to act as intermediary between a spirit entity, spirits or gods and human beings.

Women are enlisted by those who want the help of the spirit world. Shamans hold gut, or services, in order to gain good fortune for clients, cure illnesses by exorcising negative or 'bad' spirits that cling to people, or propitiate local or village gods. Such services are also held to guide the spirit of a deceased person to higher realms. Today this religion is a minority, but has in recent years seen a resurgence.[28]

Vietnamese folk religion

Iranian religions

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism was once the state religion of the Persian Empire, but is now a minority mostly found in India and Iran. It worships a monotheistic god, Ahura Mazda, and was founded by Zoroaster. Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra, in Avestan), probably founded some time before the 6th century BC. The term Zoroastrianism is, in general usage, essentially synonymous with Mazdaism, i.e., the worship of Ahura Mazda, exalted by Zoroaster as the supreme divine authority.

In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil originates from Him. Thus, in Zoroastrianism good and evil have distinct sources, with evil (druj) trying to destroy the creation of Mazda (asha), and good trying to sustain it. Mazda is not immanent in the world, and His creation is represented by the Amesha Spentas and the host of other Yazatas, through whom the works of God are evident to humanity, and through whom worship of Mazda is ultimately directed. The most important texts of the religion are those of the Avesta, of which a significant portion has been lost, and mostly only the liturgies of which have survived. The lost portions are known of only through references and brief quotations in the later works of (primarily) the 9th-11th centuries.

The total number of currently practicing adherents of Zoroastrianism is unknown. A 2004 estimate gives a range of 124,000 to 190,000,[29] roughly half of them in India (the Parsi and Irani groups).

Islam

Islam is the largest religion in Asia with approx. 1.1 billion adherents.[66] Islam is a monotheistic and Abrahamic religion articulated by the Qur'an, a book considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله Allāh) and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of hadith) of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God. South Asia and Southeast Asia are home of the most populous Muslim countries, with Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh having more than 100 million adherents each. According to U.S. government figures, in 2006 there were 20 million Muslims in China. In the Western Asia, the non-Arab countries of Iran and Turkey are the largest Muslim-majority countries. In South Asia, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the countries with the largest Muslim-majority. In Central Asia, Afghanistan and Uzbekistan are the countries with the largest Muslim-majority.

Indonesia is 87 percent Muslim and is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Pakistan is 97 percent Muslim, Bangladesh is 90 percent Muslim.
India's Muslim population is 14.2% of the total, approximately 190 million people.[67] Around 6-11 percent, some 6 - 12 million people in the Philippines are Muslim.[68][69][70][71][72]
Thailand's Muslims make up 4.6 percent of the population, or approximately 3 million people.[73] Also Sri Lanka's Muslims make up 10 percent of the population, or approximately 2.5 million people

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, a minority Muslim sect, originated on the Asian continent in 1889 in Qadian, India. The community had 10 million members as of the 1980s. As of 2008, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has been established in all Asian countries except for Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Georgia and North Korea. Ahmadis are most persecuted in Asia, particularly in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia.

Bahá'í Faith

The Bahá'í Faith is an Abrahamic religion although it is quite different from Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. It was so founded by Bahá'u'lláh in what was then Persia (also known as Iran). Today the largest national population of Bahá'ís is in India with between 1.7 million[74] to 3.2 million,[75] where there is also the Lotus Temple. Significant populations are found in many countries including Vietnam and Malaysia where "about 1%", some 260,000, of the population are Bahá'ís.[76] In other places, like Kazakhstan there are 25 Local Spiritual Assemblies.[77]

Other sources say that in the People's Republic of China, 59% of the population claim to be non-religious.[81] However, this percentage may be significantly greater (up to 80%) or smaller (down to 30%) in reality, because some Chinese define religion differently. Some Chinese define religion as practicing customs (which may be done for cultural or traditional reasons), while others define it as actually consciously believing their religion will lead to post-mortem salvation or reincarnation. A Dentsu statistic states that 46% of Vietnamese and 51% of Japanese are irreligious.[82]

References

^Estimates for the population of Jains differ from just over four million to twelve million due to difficulties of Jain identity, with Jains in some areas counted as a Hindu sect. Many Jains do not return Jainism as their religion on census forms for various reasons such as certain Jain castes considering themselves both Hindu and Jain. The 1981 Census of India returned 3.19 million Jains. This was estimated at the time to be at least half the true number. There are an estimated 25,000-30,000 Jains in Europe (mostly in Britain), 20,000 in Africa, 45,000 plus in North America (from Dundas, Paul (2002). The Jains. Routledge. p. 271; 354. ISBN9780415266062.) and 5,000 in the rest of Asia.

^
According to a survey in 2004 by the Zoroastrian Associations of North America, the number of Zoroastrians worldwide was estimated at between 124,000 and 190,000. The number is imprecise because of wildly diverging counts in Iran.Goodstein, Laurie (2008-09-06). "Zoroastrians Keep the Faith, and Keep Dwindling". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-03.